Those We Become
by Sky's Limit5
Summary: He never thought he'd end up here again, but here he was... Back where they had come from. No matter how much you hate them, you might just turn out to be just like the one who raised you... Takes place after the King Papyrus neutral ending.
1. Chapter 1

_Whirr_

The door opened, allowing the skeleton to walk through. He entered the pristine lab with a bundle of folders and papers tucked under his arm, though only less than half of it applied to his work here. The skeleton placed them into a neat pile on his desk, then tucked his hands into the pockets of his labcoat.

Sans hated it here. He hated the gentle whirring of the doors when they opened and closed, the notes written in WingDing, and the clean appearence of the lab... Most of all, he hated the long-ago memories he didn't realize he had that they brought up, showing him why he hated where they grew up. Here, in a childhood filled with nothing but pain and a constant sense of fear, worry about what was going to happen the next day.

 _"I HATE THIS! M-MY HAND HURTS! WHY WOULD HE DO THIS TO US? H-HE-"_

 _ **"he hates us! ya heard it from him, he considers us things! we don't matter to him!"**_

Sans shook away the half-formed memory, making his way over to a series of filing cabinets full of research that He left behind. The smaller skeleton opened one, searching through the folders.

It was a little over a year since that human had come and gone, disappearing almost as fast as they had appeared in the Underground. They'd gone through, killing a few monsters... Including Undyne, Mettaton, and the lady behind the door in the forest of Snowdin. But much to his relief, for whatever reason, they had skipped over Papyrus, allowing him to live. When Asgore was killed, his brother had ended up becoming King.

Papyrus had taken the responsibility surprisingly well, although he typically was only trying to keep the kingdom in good cheer. Sans had taken up the paperwork-heavy part of the position... At least, until Papyrus named him Co-Head Royal Scientist after Alphys... Left for vacation. Though the formally-lazy skeleton juggled both jobs, not wanting his brother to worry about too much. Papyrus already struggled enough to keep up the hope in the Underground, now that the six human Souls were gone.

Finding the file he was looking for, Sans pulled it out and started toward the desk again. He laid it out, opening it and browsing at what was written. Honestly, the Royal Scientist job had been easy enough.. Until two months ago, when the human arrived. He remembered it clearly, the skeleton had been returning from doing paperwork until Papyrus spoke up and made him freeze on the spot.

 _"... THERE'S A HUMAN, BROTHER... IN THE RUINS... THE PEOPLE, THEY.. THEY WANT ME TO CONTINUE WHAT ASGORE HAD DONE... TAKE THEIR SOUL... NO PUZZLES... NO MERCY. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THEY HAD HOPE IN MONTHS, BUT... S-SANS, WHAT DO I DO?"_

 ** _"... i-it's okay, bro... d-don't worry about it."_**

 _"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO SANS?"_

 ** _"..."_**

 _... Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

 _ **"... you the human from the ruins?"** The child spun to face him, the look of wonder on their face changing to a look of fear. **"... sorry t' do this kiddo... no hard feelings, right?"**_

Sans looked over the research notes he pulled out of the folder, reading over them. Gaster hadn't written many notes with information on a human's Soul, having had very limited time with one after the second child had fallen. Placing the notes back into the folder, he closed and picked up the folder, tucking it under his arm as he walked toward another door.

 _Whirr._

Walking down the hall, his echoing footsteps were the only thing that could be heard for a short time. Sans walked toward a cell, gazing at the tiny figure curled on the bed. Despite the fact they were his... Subject, Sans had tried to be a bit more accomidating to the human. The cell was much larger than he and Papyrus had shared, there was a curtained area where the human could do their buisness or shower, and Sans tried to give them a big enough portion to eat... If they ate at all. He'd also provided them with a toy, a stuffed thing he had found in the dump and cleaned up.

Sans walked up to the gap in the wall, the forcefields appearing when he was two steps away. The human hadn't moved from where they lay on the bed, curled slightly around the toy.

 **"... human. it's time."**

The child lifted their head, peering at him before hugging their toy tighter. Sans reached out to the pad on the wall, though his hand faultered for a minute.

 ** _"bro, i-i got_ _aw_** _ **ay**!_ ** _we can get out!"_**

 _"THAT'S GREAT, BROTHER!"_

 ** _"how do i get rid of these?"_**

 _"PRESS THE PAD!"_

 ** _"... only one light came on."_**

 _"USE BOTH HANDS, BROTHER!"_

 _ **"but he only uses one!"**_

 _"WELL, YOU HAVE BABY HANDS, BROTHER!"_

 _ **"i do not!"**_

 _"YOU HAVE THE MOST TINY LITTLE BA-AAAAAH!"_

 _ **"n-no! i-i was s-so close!"**_

 _"Hmm, it seems I need to keep a sharper eye on you..."_

Shoving away the memory, Sans hit the pad. The forecfields vanished and Sans stepped inside. He reached out his magic, gently taking ahold of the child's Soul. The finally moved, slowly sitting up and sliding off the bed. They put the toy gingerly on the bed, then slowly made their way toward the skeleton with their head bowed.

 **"... today will be quick, kid. i promise."** Sans says, leading the way out of the cell. The human followed along behind hm, not sure what Sans would want them to do today. Most of what they did was testing out what little bit of magic the child could do, which wasn't much. The skeleton led the way down the hall, entering a room that the child had suffered the most in. Sans put the folder on an extra desk tucked in the room, sitting down. **"... alright, kiddo. same thing as yesterday, okay?"** The child slowly nodded.

 _..._

Papyrus had no clue of what Sans was doing with the child; never asked, and Sans never offered the information. He'd rather his brother be cheery than have him know about this. Sans returned the child back to the cell a few hours later, the human stumbling in in exhaustion. The entire time Sans had a slight hold on their Soul, just in case they tried to run. He pressed the pad, reactivating the forcefields before leaving the retrieve their meal. He looked through the folder as he walked, reading over what he had written. He was testing the human Soul's endurance, trying to see how long it could last outside the human's body without stressing it to the point of the Soul breaking apart.

Unfortunately, that type of experiment was not helping as much as he would like. He needed to get a closer look at the Soul if he wanted to attempt a try to replicate it; although he figured replicating it was near-impossible.

That wasn't something he wanted to do... But the hopes and cries of the monsters needed to be met.

 _ **"why do ya do this to us? i hate you!"**_

 _"Is that so, 1-S?"_

 ** _"y-yeah."_**

 _"Well, 1-S... You will turn out to be like me when you are older. If you behave."_

 ** _"never!"_**

... Life was funny, wasn't it?


	2. Chapter 2

The first death had been an accident. Everything had been going well, the human had remained quiet in the lab for nearly three months. One day, when Sans had been slightly distracted by paperwork that needed to be done, the human had made a break for it. Sans had given chase, knowing they couldn't make it outside otherwise the rest of the monster population would panic. They all believed Papyrus had taken care of the human for them.

Sans had panicked in his attempt to stop them, his attacks piercing the human's body. He had frozen in horror, watching as the human stumbled to their knees. It didn't take long for them to... Die. Sans watched in horror as the human's Soul hovered over their body, then hurriedly gathered the Soul and placed it in an _SCU_. After making sure the Soul was safely stored away, the skeleton felt sick and broke down in a heap...

The second human arrived a few months after the first child was killed. Sans, as he usually did, confronted them outside of the Ruins. Instead of freezing in fear like the first child, the human fled toward Snowdin. Sans raced after them, wanting to intercept the child before they could reach the town. Unfortunately, like before... he was reduced to killing the human in order to make them stop. He gathered the Soul with shaky hands, trying to keep himself calm. He used a shortcut to get to the lab, placing it in an _SCU_ next to the first Soul. It was only after did Sans sit down, staring at his hands in mute silence...

The third child attacked Sans when the skeleton met them at the entrance of the Ruins. It was a split second decision, and with a couple of Blasters, the human was finished. Sans collected their Soul, feeling a numbness gathering in his own. _He needed to do this... He HAD to do this... This was all for Papyrus..._

Sans felt nothing as he reaped the Soul of the fourth child, retrieving the Soul and bringing it back to the lab.

After taking the fifth Soul, Sans realized with a sinking feeling that there was almost a _pleasure_ to this... Although he refused to admit it.

It was after reaping the sixth Soul, Papyrus began to notice a change in his brother. While Sans always had a permanent smile on his face, it seemed a lot more forced than it usually was... And he never really paid attention at any of the speeches anymore, either. He always just... Stared at the crowd.

Although Sans knew that this... Experience had changed him a bit, he refused to acknowledge it much.. During Papyrus's reign as King, the taller skeleton had not been hurt emotionally... Sans had helped him keep his innocence.

Whatever happened to Sans wasn't much of his own concern, he was only concerned about Papyrus. He had six Souls. Papyrus could be the King where the barrier had been broken, and monsters had been freed.

 ** _After all, he only had one more left._**


End file.
